Currency & Financial

Australian Dollar Hurt by Holiday-Skewed China Manufacturing PMI

Daily FX, 28 Mar. 2018

The Australian Dollar took a hit, though gave back some of its losses, immediately after we received a snapshot of China’s manufacturing sector. In February, the official PMI reading was 50.3 versus 51.1 expected and 51.3 in January. This was the slowest pace of expansion since July 2016. Keep in mind, a reading above 50 indicates growth while those below show contraction.

HNA has been selling off some of its property assets around the world, including in Australia, to reduce its debt. But it is regarded very differently by Chineseauthorities, with state-backed investment company CITIC extending a $US3.2 billion ($4.1bn) credit line to the company last month.

Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com is partnering with Australian beef exporter InterAgri to launch a blockchain-enabled traceability system aimed at providing greater transparency about the provenance of beef sold in China.

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Bold strategy of China's Yancoal in Australia pays off

Xinhua, 01 Mar. 2018

SYDNEY, March 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese-owned coal producer Yancoal Australia Ltd has reported a huge jump in their full year financial results on Thursday, up 624 million Australian dollars (482.65 million U.S. dollars) on the previous year.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said it has commenced proceedings against the mining giant, its former chief executive Tom Albanese and former chief financial officer Guy Elliott.